Various types of aerodynamic panels have been devised for reducing vehicle drag, including panels which are generally positioned on the underside of the vehicle. Newly manufactured high performance vehicles, for example, commonly use cowlings or panels manufactured from a unitary sheet to reduce the air drag under a vehicle. These same panels cannot be easily modified, however, to fit older vehicles. Moreover, these panels may encounter rocks or other objects when the vehicle is driving at a high rate of speed, and the panels frequently crack or tear, so that new panels are required.
Various types of aerodynamic surfaces have also been devised for reducing drag in turbulent flow. U.S. Pat. No. 7,041,363 discloses a microstructured surface in a solid body to reduce frictional or flow resistance when a gas or liquid flows over the object. The surface geometry of an object, i.e. the dimples on a golf ball, can influence the fluid dynamics for the object in relative motion to a fluid. Rough surfaces known in the art can improve turbulent airflow by affecting the boundary layer flow, or flow structures like large eddies and vortices. The aerodynamic benefits of integral rough surfaces are compromised however by the added manufacturing costs of machining patterns such as wavelets and diamonds as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,099.
While the benefits of aerodynamic panels on the undersides of vehicles has been thoroughly demonstrated to reduce drag and improve gas mileage, a low percentage of vehicles presently use such panels in an effective manner. As indicated previously, the panels currently installed on high performance vehicles cannot be easily modified or adapted to other vehicles. The need thus exists for a low-cost aerodynamic panel which has broad utility and may be added to existing vehicles.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, an improved aerodynamic panel assembly and method are hereinafter disclosed.